Vending apparatus.



PATENTE-DFA'PR. 14, 1903. M. 3. 00m. VENDING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 9, 1902.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

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No.725,317'. PATENTED APR.'14,1903."

M. s. CODY.

VENDING APPARATUS;

APPLICATION mam APR. 9, 1902.

no MODEL. A ASHEETfi rn-m f W I I Q A WWW PATENTED APR, 14, 1903.,. M.s. CODY.

. VENDING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 9. 1902.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

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30 MODEL.

PATENTED APR,14, 1903. M. s CODY. I v VENDING APPARATUS.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

APPLIUATION. FILED APR. 9, 1902.

N0 MODEL.

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vwewboz UNITED STATES PATENT 'OFFICE.

MILES S. CODY, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

VENDING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 725,317, dated'April 14,1903.

Application filed April 9, 1902. 'Serial No. 102,068. (No model.)

To all whom it 772/61/ Z/ 0O7b067'7t:

Be it known that I, MILES S. CODY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Washington, I

,will be fully understood from the following description and claims whentaken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1is a vertical section of my'im proved apparatus; Fig. 2, a perspectiveview of the same; Fig. 3, a detail plan view of a' portion of themechanism as it appears when removed from the case; Fig. 4, a horizontalsection taken in the plane indicated by the broken line 4 4 of Fig. 1;Fig. 5, a detail section taken in the plane indicated by the broken lineof Fig. 6 looking in the direction indicated by arrow; Fig. 6, ahorizontal section taken in the plane indicated by the broken line 6 6of Fig. 9; Fig. 7, a perspective View of the metallic end-plate of oneof the discharge-drums removed; Fig. 8, a similar view of one of therotary disks removed; Fig. 9, a vertical section taken in the planeindicated by the broken line 9 9 of Fig. 6 with the inner plate of theright-hand coin-chute re moved, and Fig. 10 a vertical section taken ina plane at the inner side of and adjacent to the right-hand side wall ofthe case.

Similar letters of reference designate corresponding parts in all of theseveral views of the drawings, referring to which- A is the case of theapparatus, which in the preferred embodiment of the invention comprisesa removable front walla, having coin-slots b b and glass panels 0 c anda fixed front wall d, preferably of metal, and is provided below saidwall at with an opening 6 for the passage of the boxes of matches orother articles to be vended. Inside of the case, between the front andback walls thereof, are a central vertical partition f, Fig. 1, whichextends from a point adjacent to the top of the case downwardly, acoin-chute 9, Fig. 4, connected to the lower portion of said partitionand the wall (1 and registered with the slot 1),

and a coin-chute g, connected to the inner side of the right-hand sidewall of the .case and the wall d and registered with the slot 1).

B is a money-drawer disposed in the lower portion of the case anddesigned in practice to be secured bya suitable lock. (Not shown.)

C C, Figs. 3 and 4,are horizontal rods arranged in pairs at oppositesides of the vertithe opposite side of the partition f with ref-.

erence to the guides D, and E a holder .for

articles to be vended arranged between the guidesD. The guides D and Dare similar in construction, as are also the holders E and E, andtherefore a detailed description of the guides D and the holder E andtheir appurtenances will suffice to impart an understanding of all. Thesaid guides D extend from a point adjacent to the supports or rods 0 tothe upper end of the case, andthey are preferably provided attheirforward edges with inwardly-directed flanges h, while their rearedges are preferably connected by a back wall t, in which is a-keyhole-slotj, Fig. l, to

receive a screw it, which serves to hold the guides to the case andinproper position within the same. The guides are designed to'retain inposition a front column of boxes or other articles (indicated by F) andare also designed to guide the holder E, in which is arranged asupplemental column of articles G, which supplemental columnis designedto take the place of the front column when all of the articles of thelatter have been discharged from between the guides, as will bepresently described. The holder E, which is preferably of sheet metal,comprises a back wall Z, hinged at m between the guides D, side wallsat, and inwardly-directed flanges p at the forward edges of the latter.It is designed when the front column of articles to be vended isdischarged from between the guides D to be pressed forward by a springg, which is connected to its back wall and bears against the back wall1' of the guides. In addition to pressing the holder E forwardly betweenthe guides D the spring q serves to retain the holder in such position.

It will be readily observed from the foregoing that the guides D andholder E are adapted to hold two columns of articles to be vended, asare also the guides D and holder E; also, that when the front column ofarticles between one pair of guides is discharged the back column in theholder between said guides will be automatically carried into properposition for the discharge of its articles.

II 11, Figs. 1, 3, and 5, are vertically-movable latches arranged toengage the lower ends of the back walls of the holders E E,respectively, and prevent forward movement of the same; I, avertically-movable bar having a T- head 8, which extends throughapertures in the latches; J,'a spring engaging the bar I.

and having a tendency to move said bar, and consequently the latches,downward; K K, levers fulcrumed at their lower ends on a wall 15 withinthe case and having rounded upper ends a, arranged to engage the lowerends of the latches and hold the same against downward movement, andalso having recessed corners 1), adapted to permit downward movement ofthe latches when they are coincident with the same; L L, leversfulcrumed at the same points the levers K K and disposed in notchedflanges w of said levers K K and having upwardly-extending arms 00,disposed in front of the latches; M, a shaft journaled in standards 'J,connected to the wall If; N N, drums loosely mounted on the shaft M anddisposed below the guides D D, respectively, and P P disks fixed on theshaft M and arranged adjacen t to the ends of the dru ms N N, respec-,

tively. ThedrumsNNaresimilarinconstruction, as are also the disks P P,and therefore i a detailed description of the drum N and disk P and theoperation of the same in conjunction with the levers K and L and thelatch H will suffice to impart an understanding of all. The drum N isprovided at its middle with a worm-screw Q, the threads of which aredesigned to be engaged by the arms mof the lever L and have for theirpurpose when the drum is rotated in the direction indicated by arrow inFig. 1 to move the lever L, and consequently the lever K, in thedirection indicated by arrow in Fig.5, and thereby carry the recess v ofthe latter lever below the latch H and permit said latch to movedownwardly under the action of spring J. The bar I has a limited lateralmovement, and hence the latch H may be depressed through the medium ofthe same without affecting the latch H. Said drum N is provided on itsperiphery with six (more or less) pairs of projections R, theprojections of each pair being arranged in alinement at opposite sidesof the worm-screw Q and having forward sides a, disposed radially withrespect to the drum, and outer flat sides I), the latter to support thelowermost box or other article of the front column between the guides D.At one end, as best shown in Fig. 7, the drum N is provided with six(more or less) equidistant lateral lugs 0', six (more or less)peripheral lugs d, arranged in rear of the lugs c with reference to thedirection in which the drum is rotated to discharge articles, and six(more or less) ratchet-teeth e, disposed in rear of the lugs cl. Saidlugs c and d and ratchet-teeth e are preferably provided on a metallicplate S, fixedly connected to the drum by screws or other means and,like the drum, free to turn loosely on the shaft M. The disk P is fixedon the said shaft at the side of the plate S and is provided on its sideadjacent to said plate with a lateral circular projection f, arrangedadjacent to its periphery',and also with a camshaped coin-support Whenthe disks 1? P rest in their normal position, with a lateral stud h onthe latter disk at the lower end of a circular slot 1? in the right-handstandard 1 and a coin of predetermined denomination is dropped throughthe slot 19 and chute g, it Will be seen that said coin will assume aposition on the support 9 of disk P and between the forward end of theprojection f of the disk and the toe j of a pivoted and spring.

backed dog I, Fig. 1, which serves by engaging one of the lugs d toprevent forward movement of the drum until a coin is deposited. When thedisks P P and shaft M are turned in the direction indicated after thedeposit of the coin, as stated, the coin will first operate to raise thedog out of engagement with the forward end of the lug d and then byacting against one of the lugs c of the drum will turn the drumsufficiently far to effect the discharge of one article therefrom.Incident to ,the described forward movement of the drum the dog T willride overthe ratchet-tooth e in rear of the lug d mentioned to preventcasual retrograde movement of the drum until it has been moved forwardto the extent desired and then will assume a position in front of thelug (1' in rear of said tooth e to lock the drum against forwardmovement until after another coin is deposited. When the disk P isreversed or returned to its normal position, the coin will drop frombetween the particular lug c mentioned and the support g into the drawerB. The cam shape of the support 9 precludes pinching of the coin betweenthe support 9 and lug c incident to the described reverse movement ofthe disk and enables the coin to freely drop out of engagement with thedrum and disk at the time mentioned. The circular projection fof thedisk serves, in addition to releasing and turning the drum through themedium of the coin, to close the lower end of the chute g and pre Ventanother coin from dropping therefrom until the drum and disk are intheir normal positions and are adapted to receive a coin between them.

U, Fig. 10, is a shaft journaled'in the righthand side wall of the easeand having a handle V at its -outer end and a plate W at its inner end.The said plate is provided with a slot m, which receives the stud t" onthe disk P, and hence it will be seen that when the shaft U is turned inthe direction indicated by arrow through the medium ofthe handle V thedisks P P and shaft M will be turned in a similar direction. A spring X,connected to the,plate W and case A, serves when the handle V'isreleased-to return the plate, and consequently the disks P P and shaftM, to their normal positions.

Y is a pivoted spring-pressed dog normally arranged to engageratchet-teeth n on the plate W and having a rabbet p at its free end,and Z is a pivoted spring-pressed lever which has a spring-tongue q,designed to article therefrom. I VVhen the plate W has been turnedto theextent stated,a cam portion 15 of the plate will raise the inner end ofdog Y, and thereby depress the other end thereof sufficiently to enablethe spring-tongue q of lever Z to enter the rabbet or recessp. With thisdone the dog is held out of engagement with the teeth of the plate untilthe plate is returned to the normal position shown in Fig. 10, when theshoulder sof the plate strikes the lever Z, and thereby disengages saidlever from the dog and restores the dog to its normal position shown.

With four columns of articles to be vended in the case A thelowermostartiCles of the frontcolumns rest on the sides I) of pairs ofprojections R of the drums N N, while the lowermost articles. ofthe-back columns rest on the supports 0.

The operation is the same when a coin is dropped in the slot 1) and thehandle V is depressed as when a coin is dropped in the slot 1) and thehandle is depressed, and therefore a description of the generaloperation when a coin is deposited in the former slot will suffice forall purposes. When a coin is placed P and P will be turned, and withthem the drum N, as before described. When the said in slot 19 and dropsthrough chute g to a po-,

sition between the drum N and disk P and the handle V is depressed, theshaft M, disks drum is turned, the sides a of the projections R in rearof those on which the lowermost article of the forward left-hand'columnrests will force said articleforwardly and cause it to fall from thedrum, and the next uppermost article will then drop upon thesides b ofthe first-mentioned projections R and remain thereon until the apparatusisagain actuated. When the apparatus is filled,ihere are, by preference,twenty-four superposed boxes of matches or other articles to be vendedin each of the front columns and a similar number of-superposed articlesin each of the I supplemental or rear columns. 'lhe drums NN' are eachprovided, as stated, with six pairs ofprojectionsR, and hence it willbe.

seen that four complete revolutions of the drum N are necessary todischarge, all of the articles comprised in the front columns betweenthe guides-D, and a correspondingnnmber of revolutionsof the drum N arenecessary to discharge all of the articles'comprised in the front columnbetween the guides D.

The thread of the worm-screw of drum N is so arranged that whensaid-drum has made four.

complete revolutions the levers L K will have been moved laterally asufficient distance to carry the recessq; at the upper end of lever Kinto alinement with the latch H, when the spring J will operate to drawsaid latch down- 7 wardly, andthereby release the holder E. When theholder is released, the spring q operates to'push itslower end forwardlyinto a position in advance-of the supports 0, so as to enable thelowermost article in the holder to drop upon the projections R of thedrum N belowit, Subsequent to the forward movement-of the holder Eandthedropping of its lowermost article oatheprojections R of drum N theoperation of the-apparatus is thesame as that-before described. I 7

While I prefer to have the columns of arti-.

cles tobe vended of such"heightthat'four revolutions of adrum arenecessary to discharge all of the articles ofacolumn, I desire itunderstood that the parts may be so arranged and turned that the firstor :forward column'of eachpair-of columns willbe-exhausted andthesupplemental or rear column released and moved "forwardly at thecompletion of four (more or less) revolutionsof the discharge-drumcomplementary to saidv column.

.After the apparatus is depletedof articles to be vended it is obviousthat it may bereadily refilled and the mechanism expeditiously reset tooperate. in the manner before de scribed.

. While the drum N and disk P are similar:

in constructionto the drum'N and diskP, said drum N and disk Poperateindependof greater or less value than that which controls therotation of the drum N.

In practice when the supply of articles to be vended is to bereplenished the front wall of the case A is preferably taken out and theboxes formed by the guides D D in conjunction with their back walls '5are removed. After being filled with boxes of matches or other articlesto be vended the boxes formed by the guides and their back walls arereplaced and secured in the case, as is also the front wall a.

I have entered into a detailed description of the construction andrelative arrangement of parts embraced in the present and preferredembodiment of my invention in order to impart a full, clear, and exactunderstanding of the same. I do not desire, however, to be understood asconfining myself to such specific construction and arrangement of parts,as such changes or modifications may be made in practice as fairly fallwithin the scope of my claims.

Having described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, 1s

1. In an apparatus for the purpose described, the combination of arotary articledelivery drum, a holder for articles to be vended hingedat its upper end, a verticallymovable latch arranged to engage the lowerend of said holder and prevent forward movement of the same, aworm-screw fixed with respect to the article-delivery drum, a springarranged to press the latch downwardly, a lever mounted to swing in avertical plane and having a rounded upper end arranged to engage thelower end of the latch, and a recess adapted to permit downward movementof the latch when coincident with the same, and a lever movable with thefirst-mentioned lever and arranged in engagement with the worm-screw.

2. In an apparatus for the purpose described, the combination of rotary,articledelivery drums provided with worm-screws, holders for articles tobe vended hinged at their upper ends, springs arranged to press thelower portions of said holders forwardly, vertically-movable latchesarranged to hold the lower ends of the holders against forward movement,a vertically-movable bar having a T-head engaging said latches, a springarranged to press said bar downwardly, levers fulcrnmed to swing in avertical plane and having rounded upper ends arranged to engage thelower ends of the latches, and also having recessed corners adapted topermit downward movement of the latches when coincident with the same,and levers connected and movable with the first-mentioned levers, andarranged in engagement with the worm-screws of the article-deliverydrums.

3. In an apparatus for the purpose described, the combination of a case,an articledelivery drum, vertical guides disposed above the drum andadapted to receive between their forward portions a column of articlesto be vended, a support disposed below the rear portions of the verticalguides, a vertical back wall 1 connecting the said guides, anddetachably connected to the back wall of the case; said vertical guidesand back wall 2' being adapted to be together removed from the case, aholder for a supplemental column of articles, connected at its upper endin a hinged manner to the guides and open at its lower end; said holdercomprising a back wall and side walls provided at their forward edgeswith inwardly-directed flanges, and being movable fore and aft betweenthe guides, and being also removable with the guides and the back wall1' from the case, a spring connected to the back wall t' and arranged toexert forward pressure against the holder, a latch arranged to engagethe holder and retain the lower end thereof in a position over thesupport, and means controlled by the article-delivery drum for elfectingthe disengagement of the latch from the holder.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

MILES S. CODY. Witnesses:

CHARLES H. RAEDER, GRAFTON L. MCGILL.

